INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The cheapest petrol is available in Panjim where a litre comes for Rs 70.26.New Delhi:Petrol price today touched a record high of Rs 76.24
per litre and diesel climbed to its highest ever level of Rs 67.57 as the oil PSUs passed on four weeks of relentless rise in international
Petrol price today increased by 33 paisa a litre in Delhi -- the highest since the daily price revision came into force in mid-June 2017,
and diesel by 26 paisa, according to price notification issued by state-owned oil firms.Rates vary from state to state depending on the
incidence of local sales tax or VAT
Prices in Delhi are the cheapest in all metros and most state capitals.With this increase, petrol has touched an all time-high, breaching
the previous high of Rs 76.06 touched in Delhi on September 14, 2013
Diesel rates are also at the all-time high level.This is the seventh straight day of price increase since oil PSUs on May 14 resumed daily
price revision after a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus
In all, petrol price has been raised by Rs 1.61 a litre and diesel by 1.64 in last one week.In India, petrol is the costliest in Mumbai
where high local taxes has led a price of Rs 84.07 per litre
Petrol has breached Rs 80 mark in Bhopal (Rs 81.83 a litre), Patna (Rs 81.73), Hyderabad (Rs 80.76) and Srinagar (Rs 80.35), according to
available in Panjim where a litre comes for Rs 70.26.Diesel is the costliest in Hyderabad were it is priced at Rs 73.45 a litre due to high
It is priced at Rs 73.34 in Trivandrum
Other cities where diesel rates have crossed Rs 70 mark are Raipur (Rs 72.96 a litre), Gandhinagar (Rs 72.63), Bhubhaneswar (Rs 72.43),
Mumbai, Rs 70.12 in Kolkatta and Rs 71.32 in Chennai, the notification said.Diesel is the cheapest in Port Blair where it is priced at Rs
63.35.On Friday, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg refused to say if the government will cut excise duty on auto fuel to ease
the burden on consumers.The government is watching the situation developing from oil prices hitting USD 80 a barrel -- the highest since
November 2014, and adequate steps will be taken, is all he said said without elaborating.Asked if the government would cut excise duty on
petrol and diesel, he had stated that he has nothing to say on that front
between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices fell, but then cut the tax just once in October last year
by Rs 2 a litre.No sooner had Karnataka polled to elect a new state government, state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp
Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) on Monday ended a hiatus in revising petrol and diesel prices that began on April 25 and
reverted to the 11-month old practices of changing rates on a daily basis.Oil PSUs are estimated to have lost about Rs 500 crore on
absorbing higher cost resulting from the spike in international oil rates and fall in rupee against the US dollar during the nearly three
week hiatus.The benchmark international rate for petrol, used for revising rate on April 24, had gone up from USD 78.84 per barrel to USD
It has further risen to USD 84.97, indicating more daily hikes would be needed to level retail price with cost.Similarly, benchmark
international diesel rates during this period have climbed from USD 84.68 per barrel to USD 90.28 pr barrel
Also, the rupee has weakened to Rs 67.27 per US dollar from Rs 66.62, making imports costlier.(Except for the headline, this story has not
been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
